Welcome to Ba Sing Se
by Shockz
Summary: A perfectly normal Joo Dee goes about her perfectly normal duties in the glorious city of Ba Sing Se. One-shot, postwar, probably doesn't fit canon. Finally categorized under a genre, after about a year of being stuck under "General".


"Hello! My name is Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se." Joo Dee smiled her biggest smile at the newly arrived guests—the governor of Jianyiang Island and his wife. "I have been given the great honor of escorting you during your stay here." The governor's face took on a strange grin as she said "escorting," followed by a grimace as his wife dug an elbow into his side. Joo Dee decided not to notice. It was not her duty to notice. "Please, follow me to the monorail."

As the sights of the Impenetrable City flew by beneath them, Joo Dee constantly pointed out all of the interesting sights that could be seen. For a while, the guests just kept nodding, until the governor suddenly spoke up. "Say, do I know you from somewhere? I could have sworn I've seen your face before."

Joo Dee kept smiling. "I don't think so. I have lived in Ba Sing Se for my whole life. I have never gone beyond the walls. It is safe here." She thought for a second. Thinking was generally something she avoided—it was not her duty to think; besides, it hurt. "Many people do say that to me, though. Perhaps I just have one of those faces." She smiled even wider.

"I suppose..." The governor fell silent, studying her face intently. His wife then spoke up. "So...how have things been since the end of the war?"

"Oh, things have been going quite well." The war with the Fire Nation had ended six months ago. Of course, before that, there had been no war, because there could not be war within the walls of Ba Sing Se. This contradiction did not bother Joo Dee. "His Royal Highness the Earth King, and his loyal advisor Long Feng, have kept our beautiful city at peace, while the Dai Li—as always—remain the protectors of our cultural heritage. Ah, here is our stop." She led the governor and his wife to the house that had been prepared for them, showing them even more points of interest along the way.

After making sure the governor and his wife were as comfortable as possible, and deciding that they would not need to be attended to excessively, Joo Dee decided to turn in for the night. At precisely nine o' clock in the evening, as always, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Joo Dee did not like to sleep. It was her duty, of course, to be well-rested, and so she slept for precisely ten hours as always. But sleeping tended to bring the dreams. In the dreams she was not herself. She was a powerful princess, with fists of flame and a heart of ice, and she ruled over all who were inferior. It was not that the dreams were nightmares. Oh, no. They were quite pleasant indeed, and therein lay the problem. She liked them. She liked to feel the power. And the disturbing thing was, she sometimes felt like the dreams were real, and her whole beautiful life within the walls of glorious Ba Sing Se was the dream. And then sometimes, she started to feel warm. Very warm. Very, very...hot...hot...HOT! She awoke with at start, instinctively knowing that she had not slept for the full ten hours even before she noticed that her bed had caught fire. Blue fire, of all things. Such a pretty blue flame...she shook her head and quickly put out the flame, which had not yet had time to grow.

This had happened before, of course. She knew what to do this time. She quickly dressed and made her way to the Dai Li headquarters. Long Feng was there, of course. He would know how to fix it.

"Ah, Joo Dee. Come in."

"Grand Secretariat...it has happened again."

"Oh, the fire again? Is it bad?"

"No. I put it out quickly. There was little damage."

"Good, good...you know, that was the longest time you've yet gone between...incidents. Perhaps you are getting better."

"I hope so..."

"Ah, yes. Joo Dee, the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai."

"I am honored to accept his invitation..." And everything went blank.

When Joo Dee came back from Lake Laogai, she knew everything would be better. Even the dreams would stop for a while...perhaps even longer, this time. The first thing she saw was the ever-reassuring face of Long Feng.

"Welcome back, Joo Dee. Did you enjoy Lake Laogai?"

"Very much. Is there anything you would have me do?"

"Yes. There is an emissary from the Northern Water Tribe arriving soon. I would like you to greet him, and watch him _extra_-carefully."

"Of course."

Some time later, she was once again at the outer wall monorail station. Ah, there was the emissary. "Hello! Welcome to Ba Sing Se. My name is Joo Dee, and I have been given the honor of escorting you during your stay in our beautiful city."

There was something else, too. Sometimes—even after she came back from Lake Laogai—Joo Dee saw her dream-self in her mind. But instead of being a powerful princess, this version of her dream-self was locked in a cell, pounding at the door and screaming to be let out. She just shook her head and put the image out of her mind.

But the screaming continued.

A/N: Thanks to a certain image board that probably wouldn't want me crediting them for the idea for this fic. Apologies if anyone has posted a story like this before, which is not outside the realm of possibility. And if this particular end becomes canon, or indeed is even hinted at...well, I will love this show even more than I already do, if that's even possible.


End file.
